Thursday, April 8, 2021

On the Road(s) to Tokyo

 Days after the US OUTdoor season revved up at the Texas Relays, two Road races produced World Records!
Well, at least one of them did!
First came news that Beth Potter, not even Great Britain's best distance runner at present, had destroyed her PR in the Road (and overall) 5000, and broken the WORLD Record!!
Her unbelievable time was 14:41, and you can see even SHE thought it was UNbelievable as she crossed the line!
There's been non-stop chatter among the "experts" expressing doubt, while simultaneously congratulating her!!
All that said, it appears doubtful it will be ratified as the WR, but might be seen as a "World Best"!
More to come, no doubt!
(BTW, the race was in Lancashire, England!)

Then came the Istanbul Half Marathon!!
Simply put, Ruth Chepngetich smashed the WR by 29 seconds, timing 64:02 as she leapt  through the tape!
And what followed was amazing also!!

Besides the WR, Chepngetich gets Kenya's National Record, and the Age 26 Record!
Yehenzerf Yehualaw was 2nd in 64:40!
She gets the Age 21 Record, the best 2nd Place mark, and becomes 3rd A-T World!

Helen Obiri was running her first ever Half, and her 64:51 is the fastest ever debut in the event!
She gets the Age 31 Record, the best 3rd Place mark, and ranks 5th A-T World, tied with 1 other!

Joan Chelimo's 65:09 gets the best 4th Place mark, the Age 30 Record, and ranks 11th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
Brigid Kosgei's 66:01 is the best 5th Place mark!
Hiwot Gebrkedan (sp?) was next in 66:47!
Then came G Behelech's 66:54, which rates as the best 7th Place mark!
In 10th came M Kejeta (sp?) in 67:03, which ranks as the best 10th Place mark!!

The Men's race was a goodie, as Kibiwot Kandie won it in 59:35, beating the 59:38 of Geoff Kamworor!

The Track and Field action wasn't too bad either, and in fact some Records were broken!
Paige Sommers added a quarter inch to the OUTdoor HSR in the Women's Pole Vault, clearing 14-8.50!!
She also gets the Senior Class Record!

The Women's 20000 meters Road Walk World Record was shattered by China's Jiayan Yang, her 1:23:49 an absolutely amazing time!!
That works out to about 6:47 per mile pace--WALKING!!

Two others beat the old WR!
Hong Liu's 1:24:27 was 2nd A-T World!
And Shenjie Qleyang's 1:24:45 is 3rd A-T World!!

Andrei Romanov is a 26 year old Russian competing as a Freshman at New Mexico Junior College in the Hammer Throw!
He broke the JCR with a throw of 248-5 in March!
He came within 4 inches of Balasz Kiss's Division 1 Frosh Class Record of 248-9!!
But then a bit later, he broke that record TWICE, his final mark of 250-11 a JCR, but also bettering Kiss's mark, dating from 1993!
The question then becomes--
Can a Junior College athlete break a Class Record set by a Division 1 athlete?/
Also, is it fair that a 26 year old bettered a mark set by much younger athlete's?
Then too, he's Russian!
He probably is able to compete here--despite the Russian ban--because he's not competing internationally!!
Lots to ponder!

Tons more to cover, so I'll turn to my old standby, and gather marks into event groups!!

Sprints--flat or over hurdles!
Sorry for mangling this name, but Shunsuki Izumiya (sp??) ran 7.50 for the 60H INdoors, setting the Japan NR!!
Returning to OUTdoors, Joseph Fahnbullah sped a 200 in 20.10 in Florida.
This was at the Florida Relays, where Dwight St Hillaire (Hadn't seen his name in awhile!!) beat Jacory Patterson in a 400, 44.74 to 44.81.
TeeTee Terry beat Tamara Clark in the Women's 100, 11.08 to 11.12.
Clark added a 200 win of  22.50!
Kaelin Roberts won the 400 in 51.23!

In Louisiana, Aleia Hobbs took over the World Lead with her 10.99 Century!
Kynnedy Flannel took the TX vs TX A&M duel meet's 200 in 22.55!
In Arizona, Sydney McLaughlin bettered her 2014 (when a HS Soph??) 100H PR by a BUNCH--her 13.03 easily winning!!
Internationally, Maraleidy Paulino ran the 400 in 50.31, setting the National Record of the Dominican Republic!
This was in her home country!
The Bahamas Shaunae Miller-Uibo sprinted a World Leading 200 time of 22.03!
Watch for her ever-changing hair coloring--making for a fashion statement as well as one on the track!!
Speaking of fashion, Syd the Kid (See above!) was sporting a Flojo-type leg wear in her race!
And bringing with it lots of comments and photos!
Finally, we have Allyson Felix winning a 100 in 11.31.

Jumps (LJ, TJ, HJ, and PV)
Back to that Japan INdoor meet for a moment--
Yuki Hashika (sp??) set the National Record in the Long Jump with his 26-10.50!
Claire Bryant LJ'ed 21-11, not bad for her 1st year in College!
(We're back OUTdoors, of course!)
Tara Davis followed up her Collegiate Record (See previous post!) with a much more sedate LJ of 22-0.25 at the TX-TX A&M duel!!
Davis also sped the 100H in 13.14!
Tyra Gittens HJ'ed a good 6-2.75!

In Chula Vista, some good High Jumping!
Eric Kynard cleared 7-6.50, while Vashti Cunningham went over 6-5.50!
Keturah Orji went 22-5.75 for a LJ PR.
But she misses the US list by 1.50 inches!!

Saving the "best" for last, something rather odd happened at the meet in Prairie View, Texas!
ALL FIVE entrants in the Men's PV No-Heighted!
That's correct, NO ONE got a mark!!
And this quintet included Jake Wooten and Andrew Irwin!!
Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed!!
LOL

Throws and Multis
In a March 20th meet, DeAnna Price took over the World Lead in the HT with her mark of 252-0!
Evelyn Aguilar scored 6346 in the Heptathlon, setting the National Record of Colombia!!
Thomas Mardel threw the Hammer 248-7, making him 12th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other!
Camryn Rogers got a HT mark of 235-9, , making her 7th A-T Collegiate!
Huihui Liu took over the World Lead in the JT with a mark of 218-9!

Besides Claire Sommers's HSR (See above!), we have Olivia Lueking clearing a solid 14-3, making her 11th A-T HS!

I'm sure I don't need to remind my loyal readers that I have completely separate Records and Lists for OUTdoors and INdoors!!
I don't believe in "absolute" lists or Records!!

Mahayla Long now leads the HS Shot Put list with her 53-3.75!
This makes her 11th A-T HS!!

Now we move to the Distances-everything from the 800 to the 10000 on the track!
A couple of good HS marks came in the 5000 on March 20th--
Parker Wolfe's 14:06.48 ranks him  15th A-T HS!
And Brynn Brown did even better, her 15:56.89 ranking her 8th A-T HS!

The RE-opening of Hayward Field began a whole new era in United States T&F!!
It's definitely NOT the old Historic Hayward Field where UO's and the World's All-Time greats ran amazing times, but it is beautiful, I have to admit!
A personal note--While not anywhere near elite, I ran races and many miles of training in the old Hayward!
I also sat many times in the West grandstands (near the finish line and the track) watching history being made!
I miss THAT Hayward Field!
But life moves on, doesn't it?

So in the NEW Hayward Field, in its FIRST meet, Cole Hocker won the 800 and 1500 in times of 1:46.60 and 3:38.99!
The Men's 5000 saw Eduardo Herrera win in 13:24.46--but he had to use all of his speed to beat the 13:24.78 of Conner Mantz, and the 13:24.90 of Casey Clinger!
Wes Kiptoo took a tight 10K in 27:58.10, edging the 27:58.33 of Edwin Kurgat!
The 5000's were about 2 seconds away from making my Collegiate DDD, and the 10's were about 3 seconds off!!

In that Texas duel meet, Athing Mu crushed her old best in the 1500 with a decent 4:16.06!
What are her possibilities there??
Sage Hurta ran the 800 in 2:00.62, making her 10th A-T Collegiate!
This was in Arizona!
At the same meet, Leah Talland took the World Lead in the 3000SC with her 9:44.73!
Grace Forbes, a Rice Frosh, took the 10000 in 32:24.38!

As you know, I don't usually report 1600 or 3200 times, but when it's Jenna Hutchins running, you pay attention!
She knocked off a 3200 recently in 9:52.33!

Linden Hall has been quietly (noisily??) becoming Australia's best middle distance Woman recently!
First she broke the two minute barrier in the 800, and now she runs 3:59.67 to become Australia's first sub-4:00 Woman in the 1500!
Yes, that's the National Record!

A woman named A Wilson ran 2:00.84 in the 800 recently!
But this wasn't Ajee!!
It was Allie Wilson of the Atlanta Track Club!!

I'm ending with more news from the Road!
First, Fabienne Schlumpf ran the Half in 68:27!
This is the National Record of Switzerland!

In the USATF 15K Championships, Emily Sisson won the Women's race in 48:09!
(It was windy!)
In 7th place came Maggie Montoya.

Her time of 50:25 isn't important.
But a few short days after this race, she returned to Boulder and her job in the pharmacy at a Boulder supermarket just 3 blocks from her home!
No doubt we all know what happened!

She was working when gunshots rang out!
She and her co-workers ran to a back room, while the gunman continued his rampage, killing 10 people, including a Boulder policeman and one of the store's young employees, also a friend of Maggie's!

She was of course devastated and horrified, as we all were!
We watched in tears as she sat in a car talking to Anderson Cooper in a 9 minute interview on CNN!
Her boyfriend joined her!

Word is she's back training hard for the Olympic Trials!
A campaign was begun to raise money to support Maggie and her co-workers in the days and weeks that followed this tragic event!

We are here for you, Maggie!

Be back soon with my detailed report from this weekend's T&F action!







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